SAY ANYTHING. Directed and written by Cameron Crowe; produced by Polly Platt for Twentieth Century Fox. Starring John Cusack, Ione Skye and John Mahoney. Rated PG-13.
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Say Anything is long on personality, but short on some other essentials. Like plot continuity, narrative development, story plausibility, etc. A nice, soupy, somewhat unusual love story about two likeable, attractive kids will be enough for some moviegoers, but it's basically a pretty forgettable picture.
Lloyd (Cusack) is a nonconformist whose only hobby, only activity, it seems, is amateur kickboxing. He's about to graduate from high school when, out of the clear blue, he decides to date his complete opposite.
She is Diane (Skye), an overachieving valedictorian headed for study in England and then a career in biochemistry or some other such heavily purposeful field. Naturally, after a little initial reluctance, she falls in love with Lloyd.
Complicating the picture, quite excessively in fact, is Diane's father (Mahoney). He and his daughter are very close, and he doesn't think much of Lloyd as a potential son-in-law.
Actually, this kind of triangle has plenty of potential interest and universal appeal by itself, trite as it is. But Say Anything jazzes it up with a lot of hooey about nursing home fraud. The father's situation ends up further distracting an already badly confused storyline.
Cusack is a charming and charismatic actor who does his best here. But Lloyd's lack of definition as a character is almost more than he can handle. Fans of Cusack may want to see Say Anything anyway. But I think it's a shame he's never had another role to match his lovable hunk in The Sure Thing (1985). Lloyd comes close; but doesn't quite make it.
May 10, 1989